InfoPath Dev

On our form we have integrated several forms that used to be separate, now all on one form that appear when you select the form from a drop-down list. All of the integrated forms except for one requires a manager approval, a required field, or you cannot submit the form. One of the forms is for Vehicle Registration which does not require a manager's approval. We have a problem now because when someone selects the form to register a vehicle, they have to put a Manager's name in this field before they can submit the form. Some managers are complaining to us that they need to approve Vehicle Registrations and we want to fix this asap. Can we make the vehicle registration form NOT require a manager's approval if the Vehicle Registration form is selected, like somehow mark that field as non-mandatory when that option is selected or do I have to create another separate form?

Just use a validation rule for this. Instead of marking the field as cannot be blank, add a validation rule to the field - with two conditions: if manager name is blank AND form type is vehicle registration, show the message that the field can't be blank. See attached sample, right click the linked file and save locally. Right click the locally saved file and select Design. From there you can see the validation rule on the Manager Name field, preview, etc.

Hi Hilary, thanks. We can't do this because the Manager's name is mandatory for several other form types that are on the same form where it is required. The "ManagerName" field is a people-picker. Could we do this in SharePoint Designer somehow?

Is this a list form? If so - maybe? I don't know - I'm not sure how complicated "can't be blank" rules are in lists. But you can certainly add to the rule to include all the form types that are involved. And then set the validation rule on a helper field that has a default value of the account Id from the person / group picker. See attached. To use in preview, you may need to set the SharePoint server in the properties of the person / group picker.

If the Manager Name (people picker) is a required field, is there a way to say if the Vehicle Registration form is selected, to set the Manager Name field to "null", or not required? Right now, everything requested on the form, including those other embedded forms, require a Manager Name. The only form that does not require a Manager Name is the Vehicle Registration.

We did it using a SharePoint Designer workflow. See attached for how we did it.